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Summary: Not just for women, these stories are both hilarious and
Review: Bonnie Jo Campbell captures the secret thoughts of various Michigan creatures both fantastic and everyday. I became each character alternately as I read, not just sympathetic to the stories' dillemas. Since reading this book, my own dreams have become more exciting and vivid, (no kidding!). I'm buying copies of this book for all of my friends. What a great find.
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Summary: no restraint
Review: I was not the slightest bit interested in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan - however, I became interested after reading this wonderful books of short stories. Bonnie Jo is a varied and interesting talent. I hope to see a novel from her soon - the caliber of her short story writing is exceptional. BUY, BORROW OR STEAL THIS BOOK.
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Summary: Words from the Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area
Review: I was not the slightest bit interested in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan - however, I became interested after reading this wonderful books of short stories. Bonnie Jo is a varied and interesting talent. I hope to see a novel from her soon - the caliber of her short story writing is exceptional. BUY, BORROW OR STEAL THIS BOOK.
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Summary: A Wonderful Author - A Unique Talent
Review: Ms. Campbell has given us a wonderful collection of short stories. Each story creates a world so full of atmosphere that you are part of it before you realize it. Her style is nearly invisible, and utterly subservient to her subject matter, her choice of plots highly personal and unusual, and her writing has a flow and shape which reminds one of Marquez, of Calvino, and of Faulkner, yet is distinct from them all and more familiar, somehow. I think we can expect to see a lot more from her, and I, for one, can't wait.
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Summary: Can't wait for her next book!!!
Review: Ms. Campbell writes with a strong voice and tells stories that feel very real. She manages to combine an interesting (often fascinating) storyline with characters which we, as readers, want to know better. Her writing is fearless; her stories and, indeed, the paragraphs within the stories, begin with an unusual strength and assurance, they call out to the reader, her writing draws us inside the world of her characters and makes us want to read on. I can best explain this by quoting from her story, "Goriila Girl", this is the opening line; "When beer is mixed and left to ferment and bread is set out to rise, they sometimes collect wild yeasts; these foreigners drop out of the jet stream or rise up from the bowels of the planet, unwelcome particles which give the finished product a sharp flavor. I suspect this is what happened to my mother when she was pregnant with me." Now, this is a story I want to continue reading!! When reading these stories, one is left with the feeling that the writer has a great deal of information about the world, about people - she is obviously "an observer" and her dialogue and narration demonstrate her keen powers of observation. In her story, "The Fishing Dog", a man says to another character; "You act like a girl who was raised by wolves." He smiled. "They don't like to be in enclosed spaces." I enjoyed this book of stories immensely and look forward to her next book and the one after that and the one after that. It comes as no surprise to me that Ms. Campbell has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by none other than Joyce Carol Oates, for one of the stories in this collection, "The smallest Man in the World." I believe that we will be hearing a great deal more about Ms. Bonnie Jo Campbell.
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Summary: Lightening Through the Body
Review: This book is incredible. I love the characters, I love the stories. Each one will have you begging for more. They leave me with an intense feeling of wonderment. Campbell stands apart in the world of short stories.
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Summary: Deeply interesting, creative, and enjoyable!
Review: This collection of short stories has something to offer for *everyone*. Bonnie Jo Campbell is a brilliant writer--fresh, complex, intriguing, and unique. Each story was written with rich images, humorous and captivating characters, and realistic settings. I would recommend Bonnie Jo's work to anyone--she's taught me more about fiction writing than any instructional book could. Definitely support this author's work!!
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Summary: Deeply interesting, creative, and enjoyable!
Review: This collection of short stories has something to offer for *everyone*. Bonnie Jo Campbell is a brilliant writer--fresh, complex, intriguing, and unique. Each story was written with rich images, humorous and captivating characters, and realistic settings. I would recommend Bonnie Jo's work to anyone--she's taught me more about fiction writing than any instructional book could. Definitely support this author's work!!
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Summary: no restraint
Review: This is a problematic book because it panders to a reader who wants flash, sensationalism. The idea is that characters are interesting only after they run away and join the circus or engage in lurid sex or otherwise decide not to be real people. It is true that the characters derive their appeal from being apart from the bourgeois, from occupying no niche but that of not having a niche, being hard to nail down. But we have too much of a good thing, too much of a begging for our attention. It's showy writing. The best story is the one with the closest psychological distance, "Gorilla Girl", a story that is haunting and surprising, and most interesting before the protagonist joins the circus. While it IS profoundly true that almost all people in Michigan are either deformed or have joined the circus at least once, there's such a thing as overkill. Incidentally, why the emphasis, in the catalog listing and on the book's dust jacket, about the "lower peninsula"? No one refers to the main part of Michigan that way. One just says, "Michigan" and it is assumed one doesn't mean the upper peninsula, a tiny, nearly unpopulated part of the state, unless one specifies.
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Summary: Great Stories from the Midwest
Review: This remarkable collection of stories creates a bright and vivid universe of characters, situations, and places you won't soon forget. In her admirably straightforward and unaffected prose, Bonnie Jo Campbell introduces her readers to an evocative cast of Midwestern women both ordinary and extraordinary who--by a fantastic variety of means--are finally claiming the power they deserve. My favorite story--though it's hard to choose a favorite because every story in the book delivers--is "Circus Matinee," in which Big Joanie, a circus sno-cone vendor, confronts a terrifying situation when a tiger escapes from its cage. Big Joanie's story is one among many in this collection that you definitely don't want to miss. If you read only one collection of short stories this year, make sure this is the one!
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